Quality Physical Education: Guidelines for Policy Makers

In a new publication entitled, Quality Physical Education, Guidelines for Policy Makers, UNESCO urges governments and educational planners to reverse this trend, described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic that contributes to the death of 3.2 million people every year, more than twice as many as die of AIDS.

UNESCO calls on governments to reverse the decline in physical education (PE) investment that has been observed in recent years in many parts of the world, including some of the wealthiest countries. According to European sources, for example, funding and time allocation for PE in schools has been declining progressively over more than half of the continent, and conditions are not better in North America.

The new publication on PE, produced in partnership with several international and intergovernmental organisations, advocates quality physical education and training for PE teachers. It highlights the benefits of investing in PE versus the cost of not investing.

“The stakes are high,” says UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova. “Public investment in physical education is far outweighed by high dividends in health savings and educational objectives. Participation in quality physical education has been shown to instil a positive attitude towards physical activity, to decrease the chances of young people engaging in risky behaviour and to impact positively on academic performance, while providing a platform for wider social inclusion.”